Thinking Power

Maybe you have heard of affirmations. The word can conjure up several images in the mind but this post is specifically about self help and self improvement. The dictionary definition of AFFIRMATION is – The action or process of affirming something – A formal declaration by a person who declines to take an oath – Emotional support or encouragement.

This post is going to look at the type of affirmation used to improve or change a person’s thought process. The habit of negative thinking is unproductive and can become a habit, almost an addiction. Positive affirmations can be used to break the habit. The affirmations can be specific to a particular aim, or more general, such as “ I am always happy and contented”. The positive affirmations can be written, spoken or listened to and can be produced by the individual or another person.

Most people have similar aspirations, happiness, wealth, health, happy relationships etc. and so it is easy for one person to create an audio file with multiple affirmations that would be useful to many people. The one important point when using affirmations is to repeat them. Affirmations are also used by many business and sports people to improve performance in whatever field they may be involved in, sales, soccer, MMA, running etc. Sometimes they don’t even know that they are using the technique.

Subliminal affirmations work by bypassing the conscious mind and speak directly to the subconscious. I have found these are very good for changing habitual negative thought processes.The affirmations are usually embedded in music or other sounds and cannot be consciously heard by the listener. This allows the subliminal messages to access the unconscious mind in a powerful way.

Another method is to repeat the affirmations to yourself as as many times as you can throughout the course of the day. The theory is that the repetition will eventually encourage you to believe the message and embed the thought in your mind.

I have heard of people who place Post-It notes with a written affirmation in prominent places throughout their home so that they will read the message frequently every day.

It is the repetition that gets the message across to you. There is software that allows a person to write or create an audio file of positive affirmations that will play in the background on the computer while you are working or browsing. The text and audio is not noticable, it is subliminal and can be very beneficial if you spend a lot of time looking at a computer screen.

It could be seen as brainwashing yourself, (for positive effects of course). Some messages are paired with binaural sound beats for a more powerful effect. Binaural audio can be simply described as 3D hearing, binaural beats are basically two different frequencies,one to the left ear and one to the right.The brain will process the two frequencies and perceive the sound as one new third frequency. There are several frequencies that are said to allow the brain to accomplish things such as relax, concentrate, sleep, meditate etc. The binaural beat is thought to help the brain/mind absorb the message of the affirmation(s).

You can buy affirmation software which allows you to record your affirmations and then play them back to you throughout a session. To test the power of affirmations, there are plenty of free resources on sites such as YouTube, just search for the affirmation that you want and play it.

There is also the theory, mixed in with stuff like quantum physics, belief systems and the like, that suggest we all have the power to create everything that we need and want and that thought itself is the creating force. In general terms, it suggests that everything that exists is energy, or a frequency and that if we concentrate our thoughts on a particular outcome, item, wish and so on that we send out our intentions into the world, and because of this, the desired result must materialize. It is said that this takes a concentrated effort over time. It is also believed that what we think about most will materialize, so it is very dangerous to think negative thoughts all of the time because if this is true, you will ensure that negativity materializes.

Whether you think that this is all hippie nonsense or not, it is more healthy to think positive thoughts than negative, so experiment and see what happens. If you wonder why you see or hear the same advertisement over and over again on every TV commercial break then you may now begin to see why. The same goes for political messages and more. People are attempting to influence us to take a certain course of action by repetition. The same is true of pop songs. The first time that you hear the song, it may sound unremarkable but by the time that you have heard it 50 times in the last 2 days, is begins to “grow” on you and you start to think that it is great, has that ever happened to you????.

Positive things can’t occur without action from the individual. Affirmations and positive intentions that are embedded in the subconscious tend to move a person toward taking actions that will lead to the desired outcome as stated in the affirmation, so there is a more down to earth element to affirmations that may be attractive to people who have no interest in anything other than what their senses convey to them.

As long as you are in control of your affirmations and intentions, and you make sure that they are positive in some way, there can only be 2 outcomes, either nothing or a good outcome. We are exposed to many influences and influencers in the world, some of these may not be too interested in improving us as a person, many just want to sell us something. Why not use these techniques to improve your life.